Cabrian
by furaiz
Summary: Makarov has a secret. But for his guild's safety, he may be forced to face the past once more, and hope that he will answer his call for help. He may be right to be wary, but he knows that gaining his loyalty and trust will make all the difference. That's what his family is best at after all. Darkish themes. SLOW UPDATES. OOC!Natsu OC!Female Fire Dragon Slayer


**When Demons go to war**

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><p>"Oh Laxus my boy, how far have you fallen?" a despondent Makarov Dreyar remarked to the air, eyes shimmering in pain at his grandson's callous actions. "To think, after everything we've been through, our bond should break in such a way." He sighed, eyes drooping slightly in melancholy, before clenching his hands tightly, and turning to the worried dark sapphire gaze of Mirajane Strauss. "I'm a fool Mira, my child." He rebuked himself as his form slouched, making him look like a weary and despairing old man, instead of the strong and wise man that she knew him to be. "An old stupid fool."<p>

Mira could only fidget slightly, uncertain how to comfort the man she considered as a father to her and her family, before she decided to go right with whatever her heart told her to say. "It isn't wrong to hope for the best master." She began softly, voice growing slightly in strength as she gained more surety in her thoughts. "I couldn't imagine where I'd be without hope. You gave me and my family hope you know?" she added with a sad smile. "When we had nothing else left."

"It was hard." Mira admitted after a moment. "But without you, I wouldn't be the person I am today. So no, you're not a fool master. Having hope is not foolish. To think the best of others is a strength, not a weakness. You taught us all that." She ended with a soft smile, touching Makarov's hand softly. "Don't lose faith now. You're the strongest of us all, a credit to Fairy Tail. A shining example of what we strive to be."

"You don't get to give up." She added firmly after a silent moment. "Things will always work out."

At this, Makarov exhaled softly, before straightening slightly. "You're right my dear." He smiled slightly as his eyes lost the slightly dim look they had. His smile dropped for a small moment, as he remembered the situation. "It seems Laxus is our enemy at the moment." He voiced tensely, trying not to let the reality hurt him, though it was far too late for such a thing. "Fairy Tail has to come first. Even Ivan-" he paused suddenly as he remembered excommunicating his son, before he shut his eyes for a moment. "No more." His eyes suddenly snapped open, his gaze burning with intensity as he looked at Mira. "Laxus has gone too far this time!" he growled.

A few tense seconds passed by, though time seemed to still to Mira's senses, as though something momentous was about to occur. "I will not fight him." The statement caused the world to seemingly rush along at its normal pace again.

"I expected that master." Mira sighed, shaking her head slightly at the obvious statement.

"But I can no longer remain idle!" Makarov exclaimed sternly. "I wonder…" he frowned. Mira tried to speak but her words died in her throat, as Makarov kept muttering to himself slightly, leaving her unable to decide what to do. "Would he?" Makarov remarked almost curiously, but slightly cautiously, causing Mira's mind to go into overdrive as she furiously thought of who Makarov could be thinking about. Who would do what?

Her thoughts scattered almost immediately as Makarov looked at her almost appraisingly, cocking an eyebrow as he did so. "He might…" he added, stroking his chin slightly in thought, causing her to blink rapidly, completely and utterly confused by her master's train of thought. Suddenly, Makarov's rambling stopped, before he gripped at his head in frustration. "No Makarov you fool!" he hissed under his breath. "Not safe, not good, not right!" he whispered frantically, causing Mira to question his sanity slightly, as she backed away very slowly. "Wait." Makarov spoke firmly, causing Mira to stop dead, looking at him with slight worry. "Mira my child… you trust my judgement right?" he asked softly, beseeching her for an answer.

"Always." She replied succinctly, with no hesitance, as her worried look hardened into a determined one, eyes burning fiercely.

Makarov sighed in relief at her strong answer, smiling slightly. "Good. Because I need to ask you something very important." He continued seriously, his smile replaced with a firm look, causing her to brace herself for him to bequeath an obviously crucial task to her.

"Do you think they can stop him?" Makarov asked with faint anticipation, though Mira's eye twitched slightly, obviously not expecting the question for all the importance he had seemed to place on it, she had been certain it was some task only she could do. Well, she could hope, but instead she bit her lip with a worried frown, her eyes shirking away from Makarov slightly as she thought.

"As I thought." Makarov drooped slightly at the answer Mira had implied, though she had yet to speak. "Don't worry Mira." He raised his hands placatingly with a soft smile on his lips. "One can hope though hmm?" he added rhetorically, though she nodded firmly in agreement. Even if logic told her that it was unlikely, she would follow her heart on the matter. If she could not trust in her heart, it was a pointless endeavour.

"I guess that decides it for me." Makarov suddenly spoke up with an air of acceptance about him, causing Mira to unconsciously straighten in anticipation. "I have something for you to do. It has to be you, especially since I am still unable to leave the boundary of the runes." He tacked on, slightly disgruntled at that annoying obstacle.

"Of course master." Mira responded quickly. "What do you need me to do?" she added almost immediately, determined to see through whatever he required of her.

At this, Makarov's moustache trembled slightly, though nothing about him seemed to indicate anything was amiss, Mira knew him well enough to know that he was nervous, and perhaps a little afraid. This didn't help to reassure her, but she trusted his judgement, and was certain that he would not put her in harm's way. Before she could voice her own reassurance to him however, he elected to speak, sounding slightly tense. "There's a friend of mine who lives near here." He began, though his voice seemed to hitch slightly as he mentioned the word friend. "Next to the cake shop… funnily enough…" he frowned slightly at the odd thought that presented itself to him. As if he was anything like Erza, who would probably kill to live next door to a cake shop. Forcefully ignoring the sudden absurd thought he had of Erza threatening to punish him if he did not get her the house, he continued before Mira could get too agitated at his hesitance. "He can help." He stated, causing Mira to blink in bemusement. "If necessary." He tacked on, trying to believe that he wouldn't need to have such help.

"So I should just go ask him for help?" Mira frowned slightly, even as she thought that no one lived in that odd house. That was news to her, but it must have been a recent thing, for her to miss it.

"Ah." Makaraov shook his head slightly. "It's not that simple."

"Why not? He's your friend, I'm sure he'd be happy to help!" Mira exclaimed in slight confusion, wondering all of a sudden just why Makarov was so worried. "Are you just worried he'll say no?" she questioned him after a brief moment.

"Not as such." Makarov grimaced slightly. "Look, just forget an old man's worries alright!" he grumbled as he looked at Mira's questioning stare. "Go, knock on his door, and tell him that Makarov requests your assistance. Use those words exactly." He stressed greatly, further mystifying Mira, though she nodded her assent readily.

"Well go child!" Makarov exclaimed, seeing that she was still dithering about. She looked at him slightly startled this time, before turning around and sprinting out of the rune boundaries, with far more haste than Makarov had ever seen from her, even when she was younger and much brasher.

"I hope you can convince him child." He murmured softly to himself, staring at where Mira had once been, before shivering slightly. "And I really hope that if he does help, things end without anything untoward happening."

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Black eyes opened slightly wearily, as a man took in his surroundings blearily. That lasted for all of a second before the eyes sharpened and snapped into focus. The air was different today. Similar to when Phantom had come calling, yet it felt ever more charged, as though awaiting a match to light the fire, and let things burn. Unusual, yet nothing for him to be truly bothered about. A calloused hand reached up and scratched his head slightly, before he let it drop smoothly, sitting up in his bed, the curtains shrouding the room in darkness, even though the midday sun shone brightly. The eyes dropped to his hands for a scant moment, clouding in the action of remembrance. His face looked grim all of a sudden, ragged scar contorting slightly with the motion. Then the moment passed, a soft sigh passing his lips as he held his head up, feet touching the floor as he stood.

It seemed that the slightly sluggish movements the man had made upon first awaking were simply out of character, as now his every movement seemed to be grace herself personified, without a single wasted motion as he went about his daily business. The curtains remained shut however, for reasons unknown. Perhaps it was simply the man's way of making sure his peace was not disturbed, as the complete silence that dominated the atmosphere was simply an extension of the man's demeanour. Even his footsteps made no sound! In fact, not even the loud sounds of battles being waged in Magnolia penetrated his domain. In that unassuming house, the man was god of all he surveyed.

The residents of Magnolia often looked at that house while going about their daily routines, perhaps thinking of who could possibly live there. Many even thought that no one did. The curtains were never open when they chanced a look. Even some of the more nosy residents never got an answer when they knocked on the door. No light ever came out of those windows in the dark and cold nights. No one could possibly be living there. But nothing else could explain the unchanging state of the house. It looked the same as it always did, even when the cake shop was built next door, not a change could be seen. It was almost like a house frozen in time, some of the more outlandish theories said. But something had to be keeping the house in fine order. They tried to find out who lived there, but to no avail. And then the house simply faded from people's memories. They had other things to care about after all. Even if renewed interest was shown, it quickly disappeared in favour of present things, leaving it to be discussed like a ghost story, of the house frozen in time, and its unknown eternal keeper. Just a story after all, nothing more.

But someone lived there, and he certainly wasn't frozen in time. In fact at present, he seemed to be rather annoyed at something. His eyes narrowed slightly as his nostrils flared, turning to stare at the door.

He could hear knocking. He could hear loud, frenzied knocking… Why? Had the magic failed? He thought for a brief moment before discarding the thought. The runes were working perfectly, yet… he could still hear knocking. Damn the amusing mystery of the house frozen in time. He had no other thought than to yell at the person for intruding in his domain. If he scared them to death, who cared? As long as he was left in peace, regardless of whether he destroyed many a child's belief in the timeless house, he would be perfectly happy!

Stalking towards the door with cold purpose all of a sudden, he wrenched the door open with a loud bang, glaring at the person responsible for the disturbance with an unusual frigid glint in his eyes.

"What!?" he growled out, voice slightly hoarse from prolonged disuse, yet no less deep and threatening to the girl in front of him. He allowed a small hint of satisfaction to encompass him as the girl flinched back with a high pitched yelp, eyes wide in surprise and slight fear, hand still outstretched in a knocking motion.

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Mira's heart hammered in her chest out of sheer fright, yet even as her mind rebelled out of fright, her goal kept her steady, hence why she had not fled instantly. Those eyes had sized her up in a flash, and found her wanting. But she could not let that sudden feeling overcome her. Forcefully pushing away her fright, she was able to focus on something other than those cold black eyes. Her eyes slowly traced over the man's features, even as her hand dropped limply to her side. Just as well she no longer held his gaze, because it seemed to have flared up in anger this time, completely abandoning his cold disdainful look, giving way to something more dangerous. As her eyes traced their way back to his face, she paused, having felt a strong sense of foreboding. She trembled slightly at the feeling the man in front of her emitted. She could not imagine her master calling this man a friend of any kind. Not at all!

She froze all of a sudden as a small waft of cool air indicated that he had moved, and judging by his exaggeratedly slow breaths, he was holding back a fierce temper. Mira twitched slightly as she could feel his gaze slide over her, the man seemingly circling her slowly. As he completed his circle and stopped in front of her once more, she managed to muster up as much courage as she dared, and spoke.

"Makarov requests your assistance." She exhaled shakily, even though she had tried so hard to remain firm and unwavering. The demon inside her growled angrily at being cowed so easily by the man. She heard a small intake of breath as she finished her statement, now trying to judge his reaction from what she had seen of him, but not actually daring to chance a look at him again. The man was older than her by a fair number of years, which she had easily discerned simply from his presence, that simply spoke of experience, and experience in spades at that. If that were not enough, she could clearly remember his scowl, and the way that scar twisted with that facial expression. It clearly showed that something vicious had taken a swipe at his head, and left enough damage to claw a now slightly faded scar straight down from his forehead and through his right eye and down to his jawline, though the eye itself seemed undamaged. A possibly lethal strike, she pondered. The resurgent thought of that eye suddenly caused her to shiver. Cold eyes were so much worse when they manifested themselves upon blackness, she thought morbidly, but quickly put it out of her mind. He was a…. an _acquaintance_ of the master she reminded herself. She shouldn't just judge on looks alone, taking into account people like Gajeel as well.

Other than that, he had seemed rather unassuming and plain. But his presence alone rendered that seeming description ridiculous now. He was taller than her by a few inches or so, probably placing him a little under six foot, and seemed slim and almost catlike with his stance. He was plain, simply wearing a black shirt, and beige three-quarter leg length baggy pants, complete with a dark green belt, and black boots. Oddly enough, his hair was pink albeit with slight white spiky ends, Mira's mind flashing to Sera's salmon spiky waves at that tenuous link. His left arm had been relaxed, while his right arm was tense, hand hovering over a sheath on his belt, clearly sized for a knife or dagger of some sort. That was something that surprised her, but she hadn't had the time to question it, his voice having been so full of his unwarranted ire.

"Makarov _requests_ my assistance?" the man suddenly asked, cutting through her thoughts like a knife. "My debt is already paid." The man added flatly. "Begone little girl."

Mira bristled in indignation at his haughty dismissal of her as a little girl. Her wise fear of the man evaporated in an instant, as she glared into his eyes, every bit of her passion fuelling her own gaze's power, yet only to recoil slightly less this time, shying away minutely as they locked eyes. Amusement tangibly radiated off him this time, though she still managed to maintain eye contact. "Maybe not such a little girl." He remarked casually with a twitch of the lips all that showed his pleasure at what had just taken place.

"You would do well to remember that." Mira spoke up suddenly, much braver than she actually felt, which the man obviously realised, as a grin passed his face momentarily, before it smoothed over into slight disinterest, the predatory air about him fading.

"I suppose I will." He replied with a nod of acceptance, before continuing. "Nevertheless, my debt is already paid. I have no interest in helping Makarov… with whatever it is." He ended slightly curiously, obviously not yet having noticed what was occurring. "Be a dear, and go tell him Natsu said 'hi, but no thanks you perverted old coot' will you?" he added smoothly.

Now having realised the man called Natsu, was actually a halfway decent guy, despite his initially scary demeanour, she objected strongly to his statement. "But you can't just not help!" she cried out in surprise, eyes widening slightly. "Master needs you, Fairy Tail needs you!"

At this Natsu simply sighed, covering his eyes with a hand for a moment in what seemed to be slight annoyance. He let his hand drop, before looking at her coolly this time, his patience seemingly wearing thin. "Look, I got no problem against Fairy Tail or anything, it's just not _my_ problem." He stressed, before cutting through Mira's attempted protest. "I already expressed my _displeasure_ with Makarov over his previous request, especially since it was so… _distasteful_, so why he sent you when my debt is already paid just baffles me." His face seemed to contort slightly in anger at the memory of it, before dropping the look entirely, and staring at her blankly.

"So just drop it. I owe Makarov nothing, and Fairy Tail has no personal meaning to me."

At this, Mira's eyes watered before her lips trembled slightly, causing the seemingly unflappable Natsu to frown slightly as his hard eyes softened. _Makarov you little bastard!_ He thought furiously, though the tearful, heartbroken whimper tore out all the anger in his mind in an instant.

_Shit._

Natsu suddenly scowled at her, causing her to stop her small sniffles. "Well played." He complimented her for the act, though he simply couldn't muster up the anger he knew he should be feeling for her attempted trickery. "Ok, you got me this time, but it won't work again." He sighed begrudgingly.

At this, Mira's expression suddenly formed a dazzling smile, which even Natsu was hard pressed not to admire, but he managed it, barely, but still succeeded. "You really are a little demon in disguise aren't cha?" he queried her amusedly drawling in a faint accent.

"And don't you forget it!" she smirked at him devilishly, hands on her hips, eyes glinting slightly, and causing Natsu to chuckle dryly.

"I guess I won't." he replied smoothly, before adding. "Though… You'll owe me one favour for this."

At this, Mira's smirk dropped slightly, as she seemed to become slightly nervous.

"Oh and of course, Makarov will have to be punished for setting you loose on me." He remarked casually. "I have standards to uphold." He grumbled.

"And it'll just be a simple favour after all." Natsu continued. "I don't need anything much anyway." His eyes dimmed slightly, before settling back into business mode as Mira nodded absently in agreement to his deal.

"So how about you quickly tell me what the trouble is, and I go crush it? I want to be back home in time for tea."

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_Thunder Palace. Pretty tame. _Natsu thought with a sigh. "Well he could have done worse." He muttered all of a sudden as he reminisced slightly, Mira twitching slightly uncomfortably at the assertion as they walked side by side through the deserted streets of Magnolia, senses remaining alert.

She almost wanted to ask, but the slightly hard look in Natsu's eyes quickly shredded that thought before it could really begin. Some things, she probably did not want to know, though she couldn't help but be intrigued by the man. For that matter, she didn't even know his capabilities, though perhaps she was a hypocrite for thinking that he might not be any use at all, considering her state at present meant she was… useless for lack of a kinder word. She was content in having succeeding in gaining Natsu's help though, for all the importance Makarov had placed on it. She could still help, and she knew that was all that was needed now.

Deciding to stick to something else, she spoke. "That scar seems to have been quite something. Must have been years since you got it right?" she asked rhetorically. Not waiting for any indication of a response, she instead pressed him gently. "Where did you get it?" At Natsu's sudden twitch of an eye she nervously tried to reassure him that she was only curious. "You don't have to tell me, I'm just nosy." She ended with a slightly weak chuckle.

"It's fine." Natsu grunted after a moment, not slowing his stride as he spoke. "This scar was from a cocky bitch called Ikaruga." He replied eventually, obviously emitting a few choice expletives about the woman in question. "Though I was being far too reckless at the time, it still stings that she managed it."

At Mira's surprised gasp, he turned his head to her in a slightly questioning manner. "What?" he asked bluntly.

Blinking in surprise at his straightforwardness, she replied in short order with another question in slight disbelief. "Ikaruga, leader of Trinity Raven, part of Death's Head Caucus guild? That Ikaruga?"

"The one and only." Natsu scowled slightly, before he blinked and gave Mira a slightly strained smile. "I take it that you know her?"

"I know of her at least." Mira frowned visibly, slightly upset for Natsu. "Erza told me about her. Apparently losing to Erza was her only defeat."

"Probably true that." Natsu nodded stiffly. "That said, our… _scuffle_, wasn't concluded, otherwise that wouldn't be true." He added with a slight hint of arrogance at the end, though it was only for show, as his eyes twinkled slightly in dark amusement at his own humour.

His amusement quickly evaporated however, as he coolly commented to Mira with a serious face. "Your Titania got off lucky. Ika in her prime was unquestionably the most lethal assassin, if not the most powerful of mages in magical power. Lack of practice can dull anyone's skills. Though straight up duels were never really her style. Neither was straight out fighting anyone clearly out of her league, at least, not without any other option." He frowned in remembrance, causing Mira to swallow her next question hastily. She really didn't want to know how he knew that, but she had a pretty shrewd idea. She was only young then though.

She was really starting to get a good picture of just who Natsu was, and was inwardly cursing herself for her own inescapable curiosity. She could only sympathise with the man, but was still unsure just where he had been in all of it. That could wait though.

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"**Dark Écriture: Pain!**"

A long green haired man, dressed like a french nobleman, with a large burgundy double breasted coat, adorned with gold coloured buttons bellowed. He wielded an elegant rapier, which now heavily contrasted with the dark and slavering look of rapture currently adorning his face.

A spiky white haired man screamed in agony as he writhed under the effects of the spell, clutching his head in a futile effort to stop the effects. Any battle had long ceased to end, now simply being a one sided beatdown, far more closely resembling torture in Natsu's cool eyes. However Mira beside him started shaking, eyes wide in horror as she saw what was happening. This was not a scene she had expected to stumble upon.

"Elfman… No, no no ELFMAN!" she screamed all of a sudden in terror, as Freed Justine, the green haired man relentlessly continued his barrage of spells.

"**Dark Écriture: Fear!**"

Elfman now screamed in fright, as endless horrors assaulted his mind, Natsu unflinchingly watching on, seemingly oblivious to Mira's pleading next to him. "Nooo! Please!" she cried fearfully now, tugging at Natsu's arm. "Please make him stop it!" Natsu utterly ignored her unrepentantly, as the next strike hit Elfman, his screams now accompanied with Freed's wild laughter.

"**Dark Écriture: Suffering!**"

The suffering spell eventually ended, leaving Mira looking on almost broken hearted at Elfman's battered form, weakly drawing breath. Freed frowned slightly as he turned to behold the odd pair, Mirajane looking broken and forlorn, next to… who the hell was that?

Unnerved slightly at the fathomless look in the man's dark eyes, he decided to focus on Mira instead, finding comfort in the familiar sight of pain and despair and the guilty pleasure it brought him. His mouth twisting into a mockery of a smile, he chuckled once more, darkly amused at Mira's grovelling to the man stood next to her. So much the better if the other man wasn't going to help her.

Turning back to Elfman, his shockingly inhuman grin grew wider, his right eye now a solid black with a glowing purple iris, before he stated with finality. "I'm an honourable man Strauss. I kept my word of giving you a fate worse than death, but it inevitably comes down to one thing. Your continued breathing is tiresome to me. I shall rob you of it once and for all."

At this, Mira stilled, eyes unseeing, causing Natsu's eyes to gleam slightly in euphoria, as the air itself tremored in anticipation. Freed could not see, could not feel what Natsu could. Oh how he would run if he could! Natsu pondered it almost dreamily, as the clouds parted above them, a storm brewing in the sky.

"**Dark Écriture: Death!**" Freed barked viciously, however his very words were suddenly drowned out by an unearthly shriek of rage, emitting from Mirajane Strauss, stilling time for a moment, before the world erupted around them, blinding light erupting from her, tearing into the sky in a devastating pillar of pure power blowing the clouds to smithereens and leaving the faint scent of burnt ozone trailing behind.

Makarov paled in horror at the power that had erupted in Magnolia, fearing the worst. He couldn't be sure, but something horrifying had to have triggered Mirajane's resurrection of her magic power. She had long since sealed it away, but for it to break free, today of all days, and especially after he had sent her to get Natsu's help, a man even he dreaded angering, he could not think of anything other than the fact she must have purely done it to survive. He wouldn't put it past him, since his control over the young man was fragile at best. _Oh Mira my child, please be safe!_ He despaired silently watching Levy, a blue haired girl working hard to bypass the runes for him.

His thoughts could not be more wrong though, as Natsu stared at Mira's form in pleasant surprise. He did not draw attention to himself however, knowing that she could quite possibly take out her anger on him too, for ignoring her pleas for help. He could deal with her, but that was far too troublesome. Besides, his tea could definitely wait, especially when he was getting a real exhibition of power. It had been too long since he had seen such a thing, and he practically lived for it. Breathing in deeply, he grinned slightly toothily at the intoxicating power in the air. _Life just became so much more interesting!_

And it was power alright. Nothing compared to Makarov Dreyar and certainly not Gildarts, Fairy Tail's ace, Natsu thought, but no less enthralling. "Mirajane 'The Demon' Strauss." Natsu smirked slightly at his own words, as a blur shot at the slightly fearful green haired man. Greenie or whatever the guy's name was, Natsu simply didn't care a whit about him.

"**Dark Écriture: Wings!**" he barked out hastily, as purple magical wings suddenly formed on Freed's back, before he swiftly ascended out of the way of a vicious slash from Mira's Satan Soul form. Instead of being surprised, she merely twisted her head around, face contorted in rage as she snarled a challenge once more, before barrelling at him even faster, striking him with twice in succession with her powerful claws, and knocking Freed down even further.

"I will destroy you." She declared, eyes glinting in unholy rage, before outstretching one hand. "**Darkness Stream!**" Dark tendrils shaped like hands, formed and shot straight at Freed, their movement controlled purely with her will, forcing him to dodge clumsily, before she snorted in amusement, shooting forwards and knocking him out of the sky with another powerful slash of her claws. She immediately reached him again with a burst of speed, slamming a powerful kick into his gut causing the breath to leave his lungs in one pained moment, before she relentlessly hit with him a barrage of claw slashes and punches, forcing him to weather the blows.

A split second later he saw his chance, as he burst away from her with sharp acceleration, before sweeping his sword to the side. "To master a demon, I must become a demon. **Dark Écriture: Darkness!**" he yelled, a line of runes searing across his chest, before his body began to contort, enveloping itself in a purple flare, red eyes suddenly gleaming out of them.

Where Freed once was, now, a dark coloured demonic form was, green hair flowing behind him chaotically, the magical wings still present, and horns formed on his head. This time he shouted the challenge, meeting Mira in a head on charge, causing a shockwave to ring out at the blow. The two traded blow after blow, matching each other in combat almost perfectly, though Natsu could easily see that Mira had the edge, proven just a moment later as she finally overpowered him, crashing them both into a cave on the Cliffside.

"**Evil Spark!**" she growled, as she slammed a palm into Freed's chest, crackling blue lightning enveloping him completely with dazzling force, causing him to scream in pain, but not before firing back. "**Darkness Breath!**" he yelled, unleashing a red aura around his body, before a black tornado tore into Mira, hurling her into the air once more, before she broke free with a mighty beat of her bat-like wings. He left her no further time to recover as he was within her guard in a flash, a pulsing red and black bomb-like orb between his palms. "**Darkness Flare Bomb!**"

A huge wave of red and black pressure burst outwards, smashing into Mira, and hurling her into the nearby river, where she simply growled in irritation as she righted herself. Suddenly she began to spin, arms outstretched, as the waters of the river gathered all around her, held up by her sheer magical power. Freed could only stare in horror, stammering all the while. "I-Impossible! Just how much power do have!?" his voice was almost incredulous, but she deigned not to answer, simply looking at him coldly. She was done toying with the pathetic creature after all. "**Evil Explosion!**" she shrieked, as her hands both outstretched in front of her, stance leaning backwards, bracing herself to channel the raging power of the river. A torrential spiralling tsunami of some kind hurtled towards the stunned Freed, crashing into him incredible force.

She did not let up any more, just charging at him and smashing devastating hammer blows with her punches and kicks, and even throwing in a rib cracking whip of her tail, before she stilled for a moment, drawing back her hands as a black vortex formed in her hands, purple streaks crackling out of it slightly and visible streams of air pouring inside, as she prepared to end the fight. The power grew to critical levels, before she looked at Freed out of slight boredom, then hurling her hands forward, a mighty rush of power hurtled towards him, enveloping him entirely, before it exploded, a spherical blast filling the entire sky with earth shaking force, replacing the sky with the purple and black raging torrents of darkness magic, rattling the entirety of Magnolia, before it faded away, leaving a visibly battered and shaken Freed pinned to the ground, the demon raising her fist, ready to crush his head.

An eternity seemed to pass as Freed shut his eyes in acceptance, before Mirajane transformed back, looking at him sadly.

"All this pointless fighting." She murmured mournfully to him as he looked upon her again. "We're all allies, friends, family here. Don't you remember?" she added, watching as Freed teared up slightly at this realisation. "You're not alone here. Just reach out, and there will always be someone to hold your hand. It's when people realise how lonely they are on their own, that they start to become kind." She concluded, holding Freed's hand gently. "See. I know you're a kind man Freed." As Freed began to weep in regret for all the hurt he had caused today.

Seeing the scene, and feeling a slight twinge of something in his heart, Natsu scowled slightly as he turned away. This had nothing to do with him. He stalked away quietly, now wanting nothing more than to just get the issue dealt with, and to go back to his peace. _Bloody Fairies always making things so difficult._ He scowled, now feeling even more irritated, despite his enjoyment of the battle.

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The situation was incredibly tense in Kardia Cathedral, as Sera Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox stared down Laxus Dreyar, himself looking at them like they were completely beneath him. Sera's onyx eyes flashed in anticipation. She was all fired up! Even Gajeel seemed to be waiting for the clash to begin with bated breath and narrowed eyes.

"Hello kiddies." A voice called out from the entrance of Kardia Cathedral. "You know, you were remarkably easy to find, all that yelling you were doing earlier just attracts attention so easily." It drawled lightly, as all three Dragon Slayers turned to face the newcomer, not one of them recognising him.

"Who're you!?" Gajeel barked as blunt as ever, eyeing him beadily.

"Yeah stay outta this old man!" Sera exclaimed, scowling at him.

"I don't know who you think you are trash, but this isn't a party you were invited to." Laxus glared at him darkly. "This is Fairy Tail business!"

At this, the black eyed man blinked slightly, before an amused smile formed on his face, while he ran a hand through his spiky salmon hair sheepishly. "I do seem to get around."

Before the Dragon Slayers could lose their rather short tempers, he clapped his hands together sharply, distracting them for a moment, as he continued speaking. "Well, I should answer your questions, or correct a few things for you perhaps."

"First of, metal-man, my name's Natsu. That should satisfy you." He nodded, pointing at Gajeel.

"You, little lady, are not that much younger than me from the looks of it." He pointed to Sera now, who seemed to be getting antsy. "I look older than I am, unfortunately." He frowned minutely, before he plastered a bland smile on his face for the cocky blonde brat in front of him.

"And for your information bug-zapper, I _was_ invited." He declared mock-smugly even as Laxus bristled at him. "As if a party in Magnolia would fail to include me, especially one this… _high-class_." He remarked slightly sarcastically.

"I don't know about you two, but I want rid of this moron. Like I said, Fairy Tail business. Nobody interferes!" Laxus barked, before getting a surprisingly adamant agreement from the both of them.

"Hell yeah, you don't interfere in a Fairy Tail fight!" Sera exclaimed, while Gajeel scowled. "Nobody gets to interfere in _my_ beatdowns."

At this point, Natsu was simply grinning smugly. "As I expected!"

"What the hell are you on about man!?" Gajeel yelled, irritated.

"Well heck, bug-zapper might hate you all now, but you're still gonna work as a team." Natsu pointed out logically. "Honestly, it's just a rather ill-timed teenage rebellion. Standard stuff."

"Besides, I didn't come here on a request to eliminate all of you, just the bug-zapper here." He added, stroking his chin dramatically. "Oh well!" he smiled darkly, as his eyes grew deathly cold. "That _really_ wouldn't have been as much fun for me. So make it worth my while _children_." His voice whispered frigidly, carrying across the entire cathedral.

"By the way…" he began smoothly as the tension spiked, the three slayers looking at him, ready to go. "I told you my name was Natsu, but I'd much rather you call me Mute in this context." He added, seeing the surprised look plaster itself on Laxus's face. "Ehehe, recognise the name Laxus?" he added teasingly.

"I recognise it." Laxus frowned slightly. "But he's just a myth."

"Well you know what they say." Natsu replied. "_Sometimes the reality is scarier than the myth._" his mouth curved into a macabre grin as he twisted the phrase's words for his own amusement, pulling out a gleaming knife from his sheath, twirling it rapidly in his fingers.

"Bring the silence!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN 12.09.2014<strong>

**Well this is a plot idea I had soooo very long ago. In fact, I had a 1k teaser for it, which I have completely revamped and actually written a fully-fledged prologue of sorts. I'm marking this fic as complete for now, because I have no immediate plans to update – but I will in the future. This was just something that I had to write down. Perhaps I might throw up a chapter every month or two if I find myself with the urge to write something a little more grim than usual. (No stealing my beautiful bunny)**

**By the way, love and friendship speeches? IT BURNS, IT BURNS, GET IT AWAAAY! Thank god for Natsu hating that stuff. Just like he hates it in canon amiright!? I thought so too! It gave me icky feelings just writing that bit. I needed to reaffirm my belief in demons after that. It involved some… things that can't legally be mentioned here of course.**

**If you couldn't tell, I don't write much happy stuff. This was a slight spinoff idea of Natsu compared to my Wise Fairy version, but wrecking canon far more, and actually introducing a completely different aspect of a character. Funnily enough, I'm always intending to have a good ending somewhere, but even in my Wise Fairy fic, after what, 25 chapters, I only have one happy ending tone. *Shivers***

**Needless to say, you won't see canon in every chapter here, since it was always my goal to warp it for my own personal amusement. It is my puppet, and I shall make it dance to a masterful and enthralling tune.**

**For those waiting for an update on Wise Fairy, hopefully the quality of writing here should give you some sense of relief for the increased quality I'll be putting out there too.**

**You were hoping to see what Natsu could do with magic and stuff? Ha! But in all seriously, I will probably write a second chapter quite soon for this, because I'm not sadistic. Well, unless you're Laxus, Sera and Gajeel I'm not. Can't really bring myself to hurt the altered version of 'Natsu' the dragon slayer **_**too**_** much though. Perhaps just a little limb loss? *Curious voice* Nah probably not this time.**

**Will still leave this listed as complete for the time being, so just follow if you want to read more of it eventually, favs are nice but it's one chapter really, and as always do leave a review if you have anything to contribute! I do read every one I get actually, even if I don't respond to all of them, just know I appreciate them, but don't place importance on needing reviews to update like some people seem to do. *Frowns deeply at those people***

**Til next we meet!**


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